UP, SP, Santa Fe - and their steam engines

Matt & Kathleen Brennan · 2003-12-18T00:25:44+00:00

Just wondering - what steam engines did the SANTA FE have in their steam engine roster that were comparable to the Big Boy, the Challenger, and the Cab Forward of the other two competitors?Thanks!Matt

Dec 18, 2003 23 Replies

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SleuthRaptorman 22 years ago

Daniel A. Mitchell wrote: (edited)

Interesting observation, but I would contend that Alco did just fine while GE was designing the electrics. Alco was the first to build a Diesel-electric in 1929. Later the RS series defined the market for about three years until EMD responded with the GPs. When GE went their own way is what doomed Alco, or maybe that is what you meant by the rise of GE. I would also contend that the only reason GE stayed in business through the 70's was several of the railroads "threw them a bone" so to speak just to keep them in business so EMD would have at least one competitor.

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Daniel A. Mitchell 22 years ago

Yes, that's what I meant. When GE started building their own entire locomotives they took most of what was left of Alco's market, and a fair piece of EMD's as well. Alco couldn't survive the additional competition, and that leaves just EMD and GE of any consequence today.

Dan Mitchell ==========

SleuthRaptorman wrote:

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Gerard Pawlowski 22 years ago

Dear folks, I don't think it was a question of mindset. Remember that ALCO was first with a general-purpose road switcher, and that many steam locomotives were almost standard units, with some different details depending on the railroad. GM could afford to lose money on locomotives for a long time, while they worked the bugs out. They had very good engineering too; the 567 is a great engine and the Blomberg a great truck, for instance. Baldwin and Alco had good products too, and where their merits were appreciated and people knew how to work on them they gave good service. Heck, look at the P&WV with their Fairbanks-Morse fleet. Cordially yours, Gerard P.

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Ernie Fisch 22 years ago

On Fri, 26 Dec 2003 04:54:45 UTC, snipped-for-privacy@gannon.edu (Gerard Pawlowski) wrote: 2000

The Baldwin road switchers were solid units but very rough-riding. They were hard on track and crews. Alco always seemed to have trouble with their engines. They just did not hold up the way the 567 did.

Espee had a lot of Baldwin road switchers but eventually moved them off the main line because of their rough rides. On Espee the Alcos were just too troublesome. They had a fleet of FMs that ended up in commute service. Ultimately they worked very well but finally they could not be maintained.

OTOH Espee's SD-7s and 9s were outstanding successes. They performed well and were very reliable. The crews loved them. Espee kept them running into the '90s but again the difficulty of maintaining them caused them to be phased out.

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